Shabbat, the 7th Day of Pesah – 5781
Rabbi Jeffrey Segelman2022-07-29T11:24:21-04:00Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
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2
04, 2021
19
02, 2021
Parashat Terumah 5781
Rabbi Marc Rudolph2022-07-29T11:24:22-04:00Click HERE for an audio recording of this D’var Torah
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25
09, 2020
Parashat Ha’azinu and Yom Kippur 5781
Rabbi Irwin Huberman2022-07-29T11:24:24-04:00Yom Kippur, Shofar, and Freedom
A D’var Torah for Parashat Ha’azinu and Yom Kippur
By Rabbi Irwin Huberman (’10)
Why is it that a holy day which is supposed to be “awesome” has a reputation for many as being “awful?”
The 10 day period between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur is known as the Days of Awe – a time to reflect upon our lives, let go of the old, and chart an improved life path.
Yet, as we initially reflect upon Yom Kippur, so many of us tend to focus upon the discomfort of fasting. In many ways, fasting is counterintuitive to the way we currently live. We can watch television or access the Internet 24 hours a day. Shopping options are constantly available.
Yet, on Yom Kippur, while every instinct prompts us to open the fridge or cupboard to alleviate our hunger or thirst, we are told to push against that impulse – and to refrain from these, and Read More >
28
05, 2020
Shavuot 5780
Rabbi Heidi Hoover2022-07-29T11:24:27-04:00A D’var Torah for Shavuot
By Rabbi Heidi Hoover (’11)
Most of us experience moments of transcendence in our lives. A moment of transcendence could be the first moment you realized you were in love with your partner. Or the way you felt at the birth of a child, or the first time you brought home a child you adopted. Perhaps it is a moment of communing with nature—realizing the power and beauty of the ocean, or climbing a mountain, or realizing the vastness of the universe while looking at the moon and the stars. Perhaps it is a religious moment—finding a new truth in the Torah, or suddenly realizing that a prayer speaks directly to you. It could be a big life moment or a small one, but you remember it because it impacted your soul, your spiritual self. It was a connection to something. I would call it a connection to God; Read More >
25
04, 2019
Last Days of Pesah – 5779
Rabbi Heidi Hoover2022-07-29T11:24:35-04:00
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17
04, 2019
First Days of Pesah – 5779
Rabbi Irwin Huberman2022-07-29T11:24:36-04:00Hametz of the Soul: The Yeast Within
A D’var Torah for the first days of Pesah
By Rabbi Irwin Huberman (’10)
“And what prevents us from performing Your will? It is the yeast in the dough.” Rabbi Alexandri
The Vilna Gaon (1720-1797), one of our greatest rabbis, provided an important answer to a question which each of us may ask from time to time.
“Why are we here?”
Indeed, we navigate our lives, apply our God-given talents, interact with others, but ultimately what is the purpose of it all?
The Vilna Gaon considered this question, and suggested that, simply stated, the purpose of life is to turn ourselves into something better.
In his commentary on the Book of Proverbs – the Vilna Gaon expanded on verse 4:13 which reads “hold fast to discipline; do not let it go; Keep it. It is your life.”
And how did he interpret the phrase “it is your life?” The Vilna Gaon noted: Read More >
28
03, 2018
Pesah 5778
Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD2018-03-28T12:36:50-04:00Shir haShirim and the Kodesh Kodashim: Two Holies of Holies
A D’var Torah for Pesah
by Rabbi Jill Hammer
I once had the privilege of being at a Torah service led by rabbi and chantress Shefa Gold. At the service, she unrolled a scroll of the words of Shir haShirim, a scroll she had created to make the point that the Song of Songs is its own Torah. Rabbi Akiva famously said that: “all the scriptures are holy, and the Song of Songs is the Holy of Holies!” (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5). One might say that just as we approach the Holy of Holies during the autumn new year via the story of the high priest’s entry into the sanctum during the Yom Kippur ritual, so we approach the Holy of Holies at the spring new year (Pesah) via the Song of Songs. There is a long-standing practice to read the section of Leviticus describing Read More >
12
04, 2017
Hol Hamoed Pesah
Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD2017-04-12T21:55:15-04:00Miriam the Healer
Rabbi Jill Hammer
As we approach the seventh day of Pesach, when we read the narrative of crossing of the Sea, I am thinking of the prophetess Miriam, who dances and sings to celebrate the crossing and the victory of YHWH. At my own seder, I have long had a cup of Miriam, filled with fresh water to represent the well of water that followed Miriam through the wilderness, quenching the thirst of the wandering people (cf: Babylonian Talmud, Taanit 9a). This custom, invented by contemporary Jewish women, gives me great pleasure, as Miriam is a role model of mine. Yet I did not know how intimately Miriam is associated with protection and healing, and with the salt water of the sea.
Recently, as I have read about Sephardic Jewish women’s prayers and rituals, I have learned that the veneration of Miriam is especially deep in Sephardic Jewish traditions of Read More >
7
04, 2017
Passover
Rabbi Isaac Mann2017-04-07T06:20:02-04:00by Rabbi Isaac Mann
One of the key principles that the Haggadah follows in recounting the story of the exodus of the Israelites from Egypt is “matchil be’genut u’mesayim be’shevah” (literally, “one begins with the disgrace and ends with the glory”), i.e. one starts with the negative or low point of our history and concludes with the positive. What is the negative? On this Rav and Shmuel disagree, as recorded in the Talmud (Pesahim 116a) – “Rav said that one should begin by saying: At first our forefathers were idol worshippers, before concluding with words of glory. And Shmuel said: The disgrace with which one should begin his answer is: We were slaves.
It would appear that by following this order, whether according to Rav or Shmuel, we are focusing our attention on the glorious outcome of the Exodus story, namely our emancipation from Egypt and achievement of freedom. By starting out with what we were in the beginning, Read More >
8
03, 2017
Parashat Tetzaveh-Shabbat Zachor-Purim
Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD2017-03-08T17:51:19-05:00What It Means To Be Godfearing: Parashat Tetzaveh/Shabbat Zachor/Purim
Rabbi Jill Hammer
Remember what Amalek did to you on the way when you left Egypt; how he happened upon you on the road and harassed you at the rear, all the stragglers that followed after you, when you were tired and weary, and he did not fear God. (Deut. 25:17-18)
The sages connect the Book of Esther to the story of Amalek, the tribe that attacked the Hebrews as they left Egypt. Deuteronomy identifies the people of Amalek with a particular kind of evil: attack on the vulnerable. Amalek does not attack the warriors of the Hebrews; he attacks weary, tired refugees from Egypt at the rear of the line: the infirm, the old, the parents with children who cannot walk quickly. Amalek demonstrates a complete lack of empathy for people who have suffered and have no strength to fight back, seeing in this situation Read More >
